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machinist, over a period of several months, Lie-Nielsen learned how to operate it. He was now doing everything but the casting, and the profit picture began to look better. It was time to make a second plane. Serious business. About the time Lie-Nielsen began advertising, he added a low-angle bronze block plane to his line and the business began to grow. Soon he had left the farm behind and hired an employee. 1983: Plane No. 2 Lie-Nielsen's second plane was a bronze skew block plane, modeled after the old Stanley o. 140. Like the bronze edge-plane, it had long been out of production by Stanley. The tool not only functioned well as a block plane, it converted easily to a rabbet plane by removing a side plate. Lie-Nielsen now had a line of two planes, but he still was a long way from being a full-time plane-maker. Money remained tight. He and his wife grew most of their own food. Ducks, geese, sheep, and a milk cow were part of the farm. Their summers were devoted mainly to farming chores and to raising blueberries. "We spent quite a bit of time doing the back-to-the- land thing," Lie-Nielsen said. Plane-making was set aside for the long Maine winters. But with the farm providing the family's basic needs, he was able to develop the plane business at a comfortable pace. He didn't have to bring a plane to market until everything was just right. 1985: Low-angle block plane A low-angle bronze block plane came next. At about the same time, in 1985, Lie- ielsen began nmning a small classified ad in Fine Woodworking. His Building a plane It takes more than 100 steps to build a typical Lie-Nielsen bench plane. Machines have an important role, but a good deal of the work is done by hand. Fire and ice. To improve hardness, the steel plane blades are heated in an oven until red hot (top). Later, to improve wear-resistance, the blades are subjected to a Pluto-like temperature of minus 320°F (bottom). little plane-making business started to grow. As it did, he increased his advertising. "I (ran) the smallest black-and-white (ad) I could, and I've gradually done more and more. I was fortunate to have Fine Woodworking pave the way, educating and exciting woodworkers about tools and techniques that had been forgotten by the power-tool hungry '50s and '60s." 1986: To Warren, and growth In 1986, Lie- ielsen sold the farm and moved operations to an abandoned icehouse in Warren, Maine. The added space soon filled with more metalworking equipment-a bandsaw, a lathe, a grinder, and an industrial-strength milling machine. One area became the polishing shop. He hired his first, part-tin1e, employee. Still, LieNielsen remained the chief machinist, polisher, assembler, mail-opener, and telephone answerer. By 1990, his company had five shop employees. He Side grinding. A pair of bench planes, clamped end to end, have their sides ground flat and square to the soles. 88 FI E WOODWORKING